Issues of long-term care aired at political forum

Oct. 02--Candidates for state-level elective offices on Thursday agreed steps need to be taken at the Minnesota Legislature to help seniors and their families finance long-term care.

How the government would find funds, though, was less clear.

Candidates gathered at the LB Homes Life and Light Auditorium at Alcott Manor on Thursday to field questions on elder care issues.

Present were Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, an Alexandria Republican incumbent representing District 8, and his DFL challenger, Shawn Olson, also from Alexandria. Incumbent District 8A Rep. Bud Nornes, a Republican from Fergus Falls, and challenger C.J. Holl, a DFLer from Pelican Rapids, were there. Alexandrian Gail Kulp, the DFL challenger in House District 8B, attended, but incumbent Mary Franson, a Republican from Alexandria, could not attend.

David Hughes, a Republican from Karlstad hoping to unseat longtime Democratic incumbent Collin Peterson of Detroit Lakes from the job of representative for the 7th Congressional District, was expected to attend but did not make it.

It is a no-brainer that the state Legislature needs to fund long-term care, Ingebrigtsen said.

"We should take care of those who take care of us," he said.

However, he noted many times that funding can be a challenge for the state, just like it is for the elderly. He said state leaders need to straighten out their priorities. Instead of funding, say, commuter rail for the suburbs or renovations for the Senate Office Building, they could fund long-term care. He called on the state to find the funds by cutting back many of the programs started in the past decade.

"Setting aside money for seniors should not be a tough decision," Ingebrigtsen said.

He proposed setting an incentive for long-term care insurance, too.

Olson said it is important to protect Medicare and Social Security and to adequetely fund assisted care. He said he is a New Deal Democrat and has concerns about underpaid and understaffed facilities. He said Republicans in the Legislature did a good job a few years ago by investing in senior housing facilities.

"Elderly care programs need to be adequately funded so that all seniors get the care they deserve," Olson said.

Nornes said the Legislature needs to encourage more people to go into elder care with programs such as loan forgiveness. Nornes chairs the House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee.

"Student debt is one of the biggest challenges after they graduate," Nornes said.

He spoke of a 5 percent raise for senior care workers and noted it was Speaker Kurt Daudt's idea to form a House committee specifically for long term care.

Nornes said upgrades at Pelican Valley Health Center came as a result of being part a tax district, but many places do not have that option. He said the consumer demands are changing and told how double rooms are not popular anymore. People want privacy, he said.

He said funding of infrastructure of senior care facilities is an issue that continues at the Legislature. He said his district has many first-class facilities.

Holl, an owner of several Subway restaurants, said he employs 74 people and understands the challenges of staffing. He said it is critical to allocate dollars for long-term care and to encourage people to stay in their communities, rather than seek opportunities elsewhere.

He noted he had served on the board for the Detroit Lakes campus of Minnesota State Community and Technical College. He likes fresh ideas such as having instructors come to the facilities, rather than the students necessarily coming to the college.

He said Minnesota needs to update how it pays for nursing facilities for maintenance or replacement of buildings.

"The facilities serving our elderly shouldn't be more elderly than the people they serve," Holl said.

He cited the state demographer in saying Otter Tail County faces an increase in population but not growth in the amount of workers.

"We need to invest so our elderly can stay in their homes longer," he said.

Kulp said she has a son born with severe brain damage and understands the challenges of care. She said she was told the boy should be institutionalized because he would never walk and talk. He never did walk or talk, but they demanded to bring him home because, she said, he needed a family. She said she is a big proponent of telehealth measures, which use technology to connect care facilities with homes.

She called upon the need for access to broadband in Greater Minnesota.

All candidates agreed the Elderly Waiver program needs to be reformed. It is a federal Medicaid waiver program for low-income seniors who require the level of care nursing homes provide. The Minnesota Department of Human Services operates the EW program on behalf of the federal government.